MINNESOTA 10, ANGELS 3: Halos tie it in ninth, blown out in 10th

After the Angels used a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, the Minnesota Twins scored seven runs in the 10th inning to escape with an improbable 10-3 win before an announced crowd of 39,177.

The Angels' third straight loss sank them to fourth place in the American League West, 11 games behind the first-place Oakland A's.

Closer Ernesto Frieri (0-2), pitching in a rare non-save situation, allowed five runs in one-third of an inning. He allowed a pair of singles and an RBI double by Ryan Doumit to begin the 10th inning. Up 4-3, the Twins then loaded the bases against Frieri, setting the stage for Chris Herrmann's first career grand slam.

Herrmann, Minnesota's backup catcher, was a late addition to the lineup when Joe Mauer left the team to be with his pregnant wife. She is expected to give birth to twins soon.

Billy Buckner relieved Frieri and served up a two-run home run to Pedro Florimon that provided the final score.

The seven-run frame ruined a strong start by Hanson and a ninth-inning comeback by the Angels that featured three walks against Twins closer Glen Perkins.

The last walk, by the typically impatient Erick Aybar, scored pinch runner Tommy Field with the game-tying run.

Perkins had not walked a batter since June 23, nine appearances ago.

Hanson limited the Twins to four hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings, walking none and setting a season high in strikeouts with eight. He left with a 2-1 lead but was denied the win.

The Angels supported Hanson with a pair of runs in the fourth inning on solo home runs by Mark Trumbo and Albert Pujols - the 492nd of his career. Those were the only runs allowed by Minnesota right-hander Kyle Gibson in his fifth career start.

Hanson set the tone with his first pitch to leadoff hitter Brian Dozier. The 93-mph fastball was the fastest he has thrown in a game this season, according to the website Fangraphs.com. His last fastball in the sixth inning also clocked in at 93, an unusual display of stamina.

In between, Hanson stumbled just once, in the bottom of the third inning.

Florimon, the Twins' number-nine hitter, doubled off the right-field wall with two outs. The next batter, Brian Dozier, drove in Florimon with an RBI single. Just like that, Hanson lost his no-hitter and his shutout.

But the right-hander retired eight of the next 10 batters he faced - having already retired the game's first eight - before giving way to Scott Downs in the sixth inning.

Downs closed out the inning without allowing a run, his major-league leading 29th consecutive scoreless appearance. Downs hasn't allowed a run in 31 career appearances against the Twins spanning 32 innings.

His next scoreless outing will tie Francisco Rodriguez's team record.

With the Angels leading 2-1, Minnesota scored single runs off Dane De La Rosa and Kevin Jepsen in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

Downs, De La Rosa and Jepsen were all pitching on back-to-back nights, partially out of necessity. Because Joe Blanton couldn't make it out of the fourth inning Monday, the Angels needed five relievers to close out the game against the Twins before ultimately losing 4-3.

De La Rosa allowed singles to Clete Thomas and Herrmann to lead off the seventh inning. A sacrifice bunt sent Thomas to third, and a grounder by Trevor Plouffe to Aybar, inexplicably positioned at double-play depth at shortstop, was deep enough to score Thomas.

With the game tied 2-2, Jepsen allowed back-to-back hits with one out in the eighth: a single by Justin Morneau and an RBI double to Ryan Doumit to the right-center field wall. The Angels quickly relayed the ball home, from Collin Cowgill in right field to second baseman Howie Kendrick to catcher Hank Conger. But Morneau slithered around Conger's tag with a foot-first slide, then slapped home plate just before Conger could swivel and tag Morneau.

For the second straight night, the Angels threatened to score in the bottom of the ninth inning against Perkins while trailing by a run.

This time they were succesful.

Alberto Callaspo led off the inning with a walk and went to third base on a double to left-center field by Trumbo. With one out, Perkins walked Cowgill to load the bases before walking Aybar to force in the Angels' third run.